There are few better marketing tools available today than social media. It gives you access to millions of potential customers at little to no cost. But where do you start to get your business active? Begin with these tips to help you boost your social media marketing success.

Poll your current website users on what social media networks they currently use. There are many social networks available today. There is the main stream Facebook and Twitter, the upstart Pinterest, the business savvy LinkedIn and multiple niche networks available everywhere you turn. With this amount of networks, if you tried to have a presence on every single one, your efforts would be too spread out to succeed, and you’d burn yourself out very quickly. Instead, define what networks your target audience uses and put your time into the top few. A poll is an excellent way to gain this knowledge.

Update your social media profiles frequently and consistently. There is nothing more brand damaging in social media than a profile page that hasn’t been updated in months. At its core, social media marketing is about building community among your target audience, and if your company isn’t posting, then your followers – your potential customers – will soon move on. Create a consistent posting schedule for yourself and stick to it. Post as frequently as you can, so you can build a real presence.

Cross-promote your other content on your social networks. As you build your social community, don’t hesitate in sharing other ways that you interact with your customers and fans. Introduce them to your company blog by positioning an article that was just published. Ask for your followers’ thoughts on a new webpage design to show them you have interest in their opinions. Do whatever you can to get them more involved with your company overall. Be careful, though, not to hard sell. People using social media do not respond well to agressive selling tactics, it’s meant to feel like a trusting conversation afterall. Approach your cross-promotion with nuance.

Learn best practices from your competition. You are not the first person in your market to discover social media marketing. Many, if not all, of your competitors are already involved. They may already know, through trial and error, what works and what doesn’t work. Analyze what they are doing, and adopt the best practices you see. This can shave months off of the time you need to be successful, as you won’t need to learn through mistakes.

Offer more than one-way communication on your social media profiles. Another great social media sin is simply posting and never building real dialogue with your fans. Don’t just develop that social media schedule mentioned above and stick to ad-like announcements. Look around for places where you can act as a thought leader. Find groups in the network of people with similar interests to your company, and offer your unique takes on their conversations. Add value to relationships wherever you can.

With a bit of dedication, social media marketing can really raise the bar for your business. Start with these tips, and continue to discover new ways to grow your social media marketing strategies. Your company, especially your bottom line, will be better off for it!